Project Management Activities Research Articles

Applying Best Practices for Improving the Performance of Software Project Manager

This paper focuses on proposing a quality assurance model for Software Projects Management. This paper presents some important concepts related to this field. It presents the phases and activities of software project management. This paper presents a set of proposed steps for achieving each activity of planning ISs projects. Depending on the proposed steps and a combination of statistical techniques, this paper introduces a proposed quality assurance model for software project management activities. This proposed model can be used to build an automated software tool.

A Reflection Note on Applying Quantitative Decision-Making Approaches to Engineering Management

Engineering management is a project management activity full of information composed of specific engineering technology and different social factors. The basic knowledge of quantitative decision-making technology and management economics is conducive to project decision-making, project investment, financing in engineering construction, and real estate. With the development of modern engineering management, quantitative decision-making has become increasingly important. This article discusses quantitative decision-making's significance, importance, and potential limitations in engineering management activities. Different quantitative decision tools have other effects on engineering management and technical management. This article also suggests that effective engineering management needs to combine scientific quantitative analysis methods and quantitative decision-making tools and comprehensively consider the engineering implementation background, the project's technical requirements, and resource sources.

LEARNING THE EFFICIENT ESTIMATION TECHNIQUES FOR SUCCESSFUL SOFTWARE PROJECT MANAGEMENT

The process of software project management involves planning and supervising the development of software projects to deliver a quality product within the customer’s budget and schedule. This process begins with project planning, which includes estimating the work to be done, required resources, and project schedule. Once these activities are accomplished, a project schedule is established that defines software engineering tasks, identifies responsible parties, and specifies inter-task dependencies. The paper aims to explore project management activities and techniques for estimating project size. Overall, software project management involves managing, allocating, and timing resources to develop software that meets requirements and is delivered within budget and schedule. This paper highlights the significance of employing efficient estimation methods to achieve successful software project management. Estimation plays a critical role in the software development process, as it helps project managers to determine the resources and time required for completing the project. The paper starts by introducing the concept of software project management and highlighting its importance in delivering successful projects. The advantages and disadvantages of each technique are discussed, and guidelines for selecting the appropriate technique for a specific project are provided. The paper also explores the importance of accurate estimation in agile software development and the use of estimation tools to simplify the process. Finally, the paper concludes by summarizing the key takeaways from the discussion and emphasizing the significance of efficient estimation techniques in ensuring successful software project management.

Impact of asymmetric trust on construction project management performance: the mediating role of knowledge sharing

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to explore the impact of asymmetric trust on construction project management performance in China's construction industry. Moreover, the authors explore the mediating role of two types of knowledge sharing (explicit knowledge sharing and tacit knowledge sharing) in explaining the association between asymmetric trust and project management performance.Design/methodology/approachA theoretical model based on the research hypotheses proposed in this study was developed and a questionnaire survey was conducted with 271 professionals. The data collected was analyzed by the structural equation modeling (SEM) technique.FindingsThe results of this study indicate that there is a significant and negative association between asymmetric trust and project management performance. Moreover, two types of knowledge sharing (explicit knowledge sharing and tacit knowledge sharing) have different degrees of impact on improving project management performance. In addition, tacit knowledge sharing is a mediator between asymmetric trust and project management performance.Research limitations/implicationsThe data used in this study is from Chinese scenarios, so the research conclusions and application effects based on this are bound to have certain regional limitations. Besides, there are many factors that affect project management performance improving, and the relationships among them are so complex. The theoretical model proposed in this study may not be fully considered. Therefore, follow-up researchers can consider bringing more suitable variables into their researches, so that the theoretical researches can be more in line with the actual project management practice, and the specific mechanism for improving project management performance can be explained more deeply.Originality/valueThis research's value is as follows: Firstly, this paper contributes to the trust and relational governance literature by expanding the research perspective of mutual trust to asymmetric trust. Specially, this research designs a measurement scale for asymmetric trust and then reveals the impact mechanism of it on project management performance, which will certainly promote research paradigm change of trust. Secondly, this research is beneficial to knowledge sharing literature in the construction management field by expanding the research scope of knowledge sharing from a cross-organizational perspective.

Project Management in Central Banks

Abstract In this ever-changing environment of technological innovations central banks are strongly committed to fulfilling their key objectives of preserving monetary and financial stability, but also make efforts to adapt to new market requirements. On the path of technological transformation of financial systems, central banks face many challenges stemming from, inter alia, new less regulated and decentralized financial innovative services, cyberattacks, and endangered cyber security. Central banks need strong project management to successfully address these processes and that should be done in line with the highest international standards. The paper analyses the implementation of project management in central banks according to the international standards. The authors present possible division of roles and responsibilities in the project organization structure in central banks based on these international standards. The standardized integrated project management activities and associated practices are described and presented in the context of project management in central banks. The authors conclude that the application of international standards is crucial for successful project management in central banks in order to ensure that the projects are implemented on time and within the envisaged scope and budget, thereby ensuring high quality results, efficient deployment of human resources, benefits realization and value creation for the organization.

Teaching project management to primary school children: a scoping review

Teachers have used projects in children’s education for over a century. More recently, project management knowledge and skills have become essential when students manage technological solutions from inception to presentation. This paper presents the first scoping literature review on teaching project management to primary school students. A total of 33 publications between 2000 and 2022 were analysed and presented both descriptively and thematically. While the review did not identify any empirical studies of teaching project management to primary school students, it did reveal several examples of suggested teaching approaches, project management activity, and common elements associated with project management. The review concludes with a recommendation for researchers, educators, and project management practitioners to build upon this research by exploring the effectiveness of comprehensive approaches to teaching project management to primary school students. This paper represents a significant area of research as project management is one of the most critical skills for students to achieve success in the twenty-first century.

Оценки сложности программного обеспечения на основе косвенных связей

Software development can be a time-consuming and costly process that requires a significant amount of effort. Developers are often tasked with completing programming tasks or making modifications to existing code without increasing overall complexity. It is essential for them to understand the dependencies between the program components before implementing any changes. However, as code evolves, it becomes increasingly challenging for project managers to detect indirect coupling links between components. These hidden links can complicate the system, cause inaccurate effort estimates, and compromise the quality of the code. To address these challenges, this study aims to provide a set of measures that leverage measurement theory and hidden links between software components to expand the scope, effectiveness, and utility of accepted software metrics. The research focuses on two primary topics: (1) how indirect coupling measurements can aid developers with maintenance tasks and (2) how indirect coupling metrics can quantify software complexity and size, leveraging weighted differences across techniques. The study presents a comprehensive set of measures designed to assist developers and project managers with project management and maintenance activities. Using the power of indirect coupling measurements, these measures can enhance the quality and efficiency of software development and maintenance processes.

RUSSIAN PROJECT MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS

In the modern world, it is important for project management to use software products, without which it is difficult to carry out planning and calculations.
 This article reviewed Russian project management systems, namely ELMA, Bitrix24, ADVANTA, YouGile
 We have reviewed an overview analysis of Russian software, which is excellent for maintaining and implementing project activities. The given advantages of the service and the problems of the work of Russian software products in the field of project management. The proposed software products are most suitable for the implementation of unique projects that are relevant today. The project management systems we have considered will help us use new knowledge in the field of effective project management.
 Purpose: acquaintance with Russian software products for project management; provide recommendations on the most effective project management systems.
 Method or methodology of the work: the article used empirical research methods.
 Results: the best software products for project management were selected.
 Scope of the results: these recommendations can be used in the project activities of various organizations, for more successful activities in project management.

Educational and Professional Program Web Project Management, Digital Content Design: Labor Functions and Activities’ Types of the Future Specialist

The purpose of the research is to identify the main labor functions and activities of a future specialist in the current educational and professional program Web Projects Management, Digital Content Design of the specialty Information, Library, and Archival Affairs.
 Research methodology. General scientific research methods were used, in particular, analysis and synthesis; a hypothetical method, which made it possible, based on the analysis of interdisciplinary educational and professional programs in other humanitarian specialties, to formulate the didactic validity and pedagogical expediency of the proposed educational and professional program Web Projects Management, Digital Content Design of the specialty Information, Library, and Archival Affairs; methods of semantic and logical analysis of an array of documents (professional scientific publications, content of Internet resources) – to identify the state of theory and practice of training specialists under interdisciplinary educational and professional programs; the method of analogies – to establish similarities between pedagogical systems based on the signs of interdisciplinarity to justify the didactic possibility of implementing the studied educational and professional program.
 The scientific novelty of the research consists in identifying the labor functions and types of activities of the future specialist under the educational and professional program Web Projects Management, Digital Content Design.
 Conclusions. Strengthening the social-communicative function of organizations in the document and information sphere, in particular in the presentation of their activities in the web environment, actualizes the training of IT specialists for this subject area.
 The requirements for a modern specialist in the document and information field, the convergence of activities’ types and tasks that appear in the course of his work, determine the convergence of the program content Management of Web Projects, Design of Digital Content with the areas of IT and project management activities.
 The interdisciplinarity of the studied educational and professional program corresponds to the content of the activities of an information resources specialist in the context of digitalization.
 The analyzed drafts of professional standards and the experience of pedagogical systems functioning, the main concept of which is the integration of knowledge in the subject area with knowledge in the field of implementation and support of digital technologies that ensure its innovative functioning, are pedagogically appropriate and require further research to determine the content, forms, and methods of specialist training.

A “diary of events” to support the management actions on two beach-nesting birds of conservation concern: Historicization of experiences, learned lessons, and SWOT analysis

Abstract During the project management actions, a chain of fine-grained events occur, both of bio-ecological and anthropic origin. While some may be expected or planned, others may be unforeseen. This work proposes the drafting of a ‘diary of events’ reporting bio-ecological and anthropogenic events, these last having both negative and positive impacts. This diary can be carried out using a schematic form, aiming to highlight the cause-effect relationships between events, the management responses, and the lessons learned. Analyzing the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (i.e., the internal and external conditioning factors) linked to these events (SWOT analysis) to make a case of study from the real world, we applied this approach to a project aimed at protecting nests of two species of conservation interest (Charadrius alexandrinus and C. dubius) in a protected coastal area of central Italy.

A Proposal for Research on the Application of AI/ML in ITPM

According to the market research firm Tractica, the global artificial intelligence software market is forecast to grow to 126 billion by 2025. Additionally, the Gartner group predicts that during the same time as much as 80% of the routine work , which represents the bulk of human hours spent in today's project management (PM) activities, can be eliminated because of collaboration between humans and smart machines. Today's PM practices rely heavily on human input. However, that is not the optimum use of the human project manager's intuitive, innovative, and creative abilities. Many aspects of a project manager's work could be managed by machines that utilize AI/ML approaches to address nonroutine and predictive tasks. This paper describes IT project management (ITPM) processes and associated tasks and identifies the AI/ML approaches that can support them.

ОСОБЛИВОСТІ ПРОЄКТНОГО УПРАВЛІННЯ В КОНТЕКСТІ ІНЖЕНЕРІЇ ПРОГРАМНОГО ЗАБЕЗПЕЧЕННЯ

The article is related to the problem of training future bachelors in software engineering for project management activities, which is caused by ensuring the quality and reliability of the software product and the insufficient level of preparation of young IT specialists for actual practice. The research method was the issue of theoretical justification of project management in software engineering. Based on the analysis of legal documents, psychological and pedagogical literature, and scientific research, the main concepts of the study were determined, such as: «project» and «project management». Thus, the project is characterized as a completed cycle of productive activity aimed at obtaining an objective new or subjective new result. The presence of uncertainties and the uniqueness of each project require specialists who will be engaged in its management. Emphasis is placed on understanding project management as a process of using knowledge, skills, tools, and techniques in project activities to achieve project requirements. The Waterfall’s methodology project phases were compared with the project phases proposed by the Project Management Institute in its books, based on which some features of project management in the context of software engineering were formed. The component of project management is singled out as «adjustment of project constraints: in a particular budget, resources, risks, delays, quality», which corresponds to the design phase of the project. The main program requirements for high-quality project management in support engineering have been established: understanding of the domain area of the project; knowledge of the programming language, technology stack, processes, and methodologies; project activity skills, characterized by the urgency of execution, concise lines, and quick results; the ability to adjust design constraints. Key words: project management, software engineering, waterfall.

Success Factors of PMO Implementation for UAE Project-Based Organizations

In current competitive market, organisations strive not only to complete projects on time, but also to ensure stakeholder satisfaction. Creating a separate body or department for project management within an organisation is frequently motivated by a desire to improve project management and reduce projects that fall short of customers' and stakeholders' expectations due to budget overruns or intolerable delays. Thus, Project management Office (PMO) practises are becoming more popular around the world to support project management activities. Hence, this paper presents a qualitative approach by interviewing twenty experienced personnel who had worked with PMO for several years. The experts were from four organisation namely Masdar Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company, Al Mansouri 3B Group, Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange (ADX), and Gulf Falcon Company (GFC). These open interview sessions were to discover the success factors in implementing PMO in UAE organisation. The results of the interview found that there are six key factors affecting the effective implementation of the PMO which are project flexibility; politics and change resistance in stakeholders; alignment and accountability; efficient resources; risk management; effective leadership and team management. Project flexibility, as well as effective leadership and team management, are cited as the most critical factors by all respondents. The paper also incorporates an effective PMO framework which suggests various strategic measures to implement in five phases of the project lifecycle: initiation, planning, execution, monitoring and controlling, closing, and post-implementation reviewing.

Research on Strengthening Software Process Management and Becoming a Qualified Software Project Manager

With the continuous development of the Internet industry in recent years, traditional enterprises in various industries are gradually informatized, bringing new development opportunities to the software industry, the software market is expanding, facing a dramatic increase in software process management and software project management activities, the software industry for the software process and software project management gradually pay attention to it. How to choose a suitable software process to better meet the project requirements goals, software project managers as the core of the entire software project determine the success of the project, how to strengthen the software process management and how to become a qualified project manager, so as to ensure the overall progress and quality of the software project, are worth to study and research. In this paper, we outline some core concepts of software process and its management, introduce software organization and management methods, and provide an integrated, three-dimensional software reform framework provided by PSP (Personal Software Process), TSP (Team Software Process), and CMM (Capability Maturity Model Integration for Software) and RUP (Rational Unified Process)-based process model. Outlines the concept of project management and refinement to software project management in the software industry, for the role of software project manager, analyze its importance from multiple perspectives such as schedule, personnel, resources and communication, and refine its software project management related activities methods to better meet the needs of modern software management.

8D BIM Model in Urban Rehabilitation Projects: Enhanced Occupational Safety for Temporary Construction Works

Building Information Modeling (BIM) is a relevant booster to the modernization of construction. The adoption of digital technologies positively contributes to more agile and integrated processes in all phases of the building life-cycle, namely with regard to project management activities. The implementation of BIM has been predominant in new building projects, but the current market cycle of the rehabilitation or refurbishing of existing buildings offers new opportunities of application to be explored. This paper explores such opportunities, namely with regard to the temporary construction works involved in urban rehabilitation projects with the preservation of the façades of the original buildings. It specifically addresses the impacts of the modeling efforts of steel frames and structures needed to temporarily support façades, after the demolition of the old buildings, and until the original façade is reintegrated into the structural elements of the new building. In a BIM context, an 8D model is created to explore BIM capabilities in enabling more efficient occupation safety and health coordination and management activities in building rehabilitation projects, namely in improving and validating the demolitions and construction methods and sequencing, the scheduling of construction works, and the mandatory occupational risk prevention documents for the construction site. The development of the research was supported on the use of the available BIM software: Revit, to model the façade and the temporary steel structural system; Microsoft Project, to schedule the construction works; Navisworks, to perform clash detection analyses and enable visual simulations for occupational risk, and its identification and mitigation. The study intends to contribute to the dissemination of BIM capabilities to improve occupation safety and health in construction, namely in rehabilitation projects involving temporary structures while contributing with innovative perspectives toward higher maturity in BIM implementation and use in the construction sector.

Djelatnost upravljanja projektom gradnje u Republici Hrvatskoj: analiza trenutačnog stanja

This study analyses the current state of the activities of construction project management in the Republic of Croatia (CPM), which, although in the seventh year of existence, still does not have a uniform approach for public contracting authorities/entities. Limitations and ambiguities in the legal platform for CPM have been identified: inconsistent terminology, mutual inconsistency of regulations, overlap of authority and duties of the supervision/(FIDIC) Engineer and project manager (PM), insufficient precision of misdemeanour provisions, and lack of timely involvement of PM in the project as a consequence of misunderstanding, by the public contracting authorities/entities, of the importance of the influence of PM on the success of the construction project. However, the presentation of good practices and insight into international standards illustrates the need for additional standardisation of currently certain aspects of uncoordinated and sub-regulated areas, and the simultaneous need for deregulation. In conclusion, this study provides guidelines for the further standardisation of DUPG and harmonisation of existing regulations for sustainable and efficient projects.

UNIQUENESS AS A BASIC DEFINITION IN THE PROJECT COMMUNICATION MANAGEMENT SYSTEM

The study and analysis of this issue in its symbiosis, i.e., the mutual consideration of communication management in the context of project management, is now not widespread in scientific circles and often has a specific practical description. That, in the author's opinion, also forms a certain potential in the relevance of such research. The purpose of the article is to study and analyze the features of communication in project management, as well as to determine the key methodological characteristics of this process. For successful implementation of communications in project management, as the author emphasizes, the following elements are highlighted: Communications planning – determining the information needs and expectations of participants, stakeholders. Distribution of information – timely provision of the necessary information that meets the requirements and expectations of the main participants of the project and stakeholders. Execution reporting. This information includes reports and monitoring on the current status, assessment of progress, and forecasting the progress of work on the project. Participant management – managing communications to meet the requirements and expectations of project participants and stakeholders for successful project completion. In project management, according to the author, we are dealing with a changed scheme of the process of evaluating the effectiveness of communication. At the same time, the changes do not concern the structural part, because the stages of functioning and development of the project itself can be flexible enough to respond to changes in the environment and thereby level out some of the structural elements. These changes relate specifically to the substantive part of this evaluation process. Thus, the author states that uniqueness is the main methodological component of the communication system in project management. This definition corresponds to the main content of project management and implements practically the content component of the whole communication process in project management. Along with the above, in the author's opinion, further research requires issues related to the risks and barriers of applying the elements of the uniqueness of communication activities in project management.

The interplay of formal integrative mechanisms and relational norms in project collaboration

Collaboration can bring multiple benefits to projects. Real collaboration appears, however, complex to implement. So far, there is no scientific agreement on the importance of the formal and relational (behavioural) sides of project collaboration. Through a qualitative study of two collaborating teams in large engineering and construction projects we uncover the roles of these two sides of collaboration and analyse their interplay. We find that relational and formal aspects of collaboration are complementary, yet each has a distinct role. The formal integrative mechanisms provide an arena for relational norms to be established, and for collaborative behaviours to be practiced and implemented. Relational norms transform traditional project management activities into collaborative, integrative ones. We advance theory of collaboration by offering a holistic and at the same time fine-grained view on it, and stress that project teams need to pay equal attention to both formal and relational sides for collaboration to succeed.

"The Complex Nature of Integrating Sustainable Development for Mixed Used Buildings in Nepal"

One of the most critical concerns of our generation is sustainability. This study aims to determine the extent to which the construction sector in Nepal considers and applies sustainability concepts in its project management activities to develop a change strategy to improve sustainability practices. To better understand the existing situation, this research was conducted through semi-structured interviews. First, the existing literature on sustainability practices was critically studied to understand the current situation and the participating company's objective to improve sustainability performance in developing countries. The literature review results formed the basis for a series of semistructured interviews with eight members of middle and senior management representing three different stakeholder groups: clients, contractors, and regulatory agencies. The interviews were conducted to gain a deeper understanding of the reasons behind current practices and barriers to implementing sustainability in Nepalese mixed-use buildings. The interview data were coded and analyzed using the thematic analysis method. The findings of this research show how difficult it is to implement sustainability in buildings of Nepal, and the statistics show that the practices of many organizations are poor in terms of socio-environmental sustainability.

Design and Implementation of Scientific Management and Engineering Intelligence Based on Multivariate Analysis

This paper takes the intelligent engineering as an example and uses the Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) tool to decompose the intelligent engineering into specific subsystems and describe each subsystem. In the field of intelligent engineering construction, it is impossible to ensure that the construction project will not be changed. To reduce scope changes, efforts can be made in three aspects: first, to accurately locate project requirements and find enough work to be done; second, to scientifically define the scope of the project and delete unnecessary work; and third, to effectively control scope changes. Ensure that all work is done to achieve the project goals. This paper starts from the actual project management experience, conducts a comprehensive summary and refinement, proposes key strategies and methods for project scope management, and puts forward the following points of view. Intelligent design should be completed by professional design agencies, and intelligent construction should be completed by professional construction teams. There should be standards for intelligent acceptance to follow. Hope this article will be helpful for project managers.